Are you interested in attending a conference program where you have a hand in determining what’s discussed? Have you always wondered what really goes on at an unconference? As part of ALA President Jim Rettig’s “Creating Connections” initiatives, seventy-five attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a free Unconference at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

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Are you interested in attending a conference program where you have a hand in determining what’s discussed? Have you always wondered what really goes on at an unconference? As part of ALA President Jim Rettig’s “Creating Connections” initiatives, seventy-five attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a free Unconference at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

== What is an Unconference? ==

== What is an Unconference? ==

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== About this Unconference ==

== About this Unconference ==

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The Unconference at ALA Annual is a full-day event which takes place Friday, July 10th from 9am - 5pm at the Palmer House Hilton, Northwest 5 Room. Lunch will be served and admission is free. The Unconference is limited to 75 registered attendees. This Unconference is an effort to expand member participation and explore alternative and more unstructured conference formats within the structure of ALA.

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The Unconference at ALA Annual is a full-day event which takes place Friday, July 10th from 9am - 5pm at the Hilton, Northwest 5 Room. Lunch will be served and admission is free. The Unconference is limited to 75 registered attendees. This Unconference is an effort to expand member participation and explore alternative and more unstructured conference formats within the structure of ALA.

Attendees will collaborate online prior to the Unconference to identify topics they're interested in presenting to the group or facilitating a discussion about. Everyone will be both teacher and learner, discussing the topics they're most interested in.

Attendees will collaborate online prior to the Unconference to identify topics they're interested in presenting to the group or facilitating a discussion about. Everyone will be both teacher and learner, discussing the topics they're most interested in.

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There is no specific limitation on the topics that can be discussed at this conference as long as they're in some way related to librarianship. They can run the gamut from services to children to cataloging standards to issues in reference services to bleeding edge technologies and more.

There is no specific limitation on the topics that can be discussed at this conference as long as they're in some way related to librarianship. They can run the gamut from services to children to cataloging standards to issues in reference services to bleeding edge technologies and more.

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'''[[Unconference Schedule|Click here to see a complete schedule]]'''

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We will be having a backchannel for comments, link sharing, live blogging, etc. We are using Cover It Live and you can access the backchannel from our [http://connect.ala.org/node/77516 ALA Connect page] or [http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/unconference-discussion/ Meredith's website]. Cover It Live will also pick up any tweets from Twitter using the hashtag '''#unala2009'''.

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== Registration ==

== Registration ==

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== News and Updates ==

== News and Updates ==

May 12 - Attention attendees! The schedule and topics for discussion will be decided upon by you. During the last week of May, a survey will be available to you which will decide what topics will be presented to the group and discussed in the round table groups. There will be some blank spaces left open for topics the day of the Unconference, but most will be decided before we arrive in Chicago. After Memorial Day, be on the lookout for the survey. Thanks for participating! - MB

May 12 - Attention attendees! The schedule and topics for discussion will be decided upon by you. During the last week of May, a survey will be available to you which will decide what topics will be presented to the group and discussed in the round table groups. There will be some blank spaces left open for topics the day of the Unconference, but most will be decided before we arrive in Chicago. After Memorial Day, be on the lookout for the survey. Thanks for participating! - MB

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June 4 - The survey for topics went out this evening. If you are registered to attend but did not get it, please let us know. The survey will close June 22nd at midnight. - MB

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June 5 - As far as we know, we will have wireless in the Unconference room. This means, of course, back channels and online unconferencing. Woot.

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June 24 - '''[[Unconference Schedule|The schedule is up]]'''. If you need to switch times, please feel free to work that out amongst yourselves. Do not change someone else's time without asking.

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-The hashtag for the Unconference is #unala2009

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-We will be having a backchannel for comments, link sharing, live blogging, etc. We are using Cover It Live and you can access the backchannel from our [http://connect.ala.org/node/77516 ALA Connect page] or [http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/unconference-discussion/ Meredith's website]. Cover It Live will also pick up any tweets from Twitter using the hashtag '''#unala2009'''.

Latest revision as of 09:07, 10 July 2009

Are you interested in attending a conference program where you have a hand in determining what’s discussed? Have you always wondered what really goes on at an unconference? As part of ALA President Jim Rettig’s “Creating Connections” initiatives, seventy-five attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a free Unconference at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago.

Contents

What is an Unconference?

An unconference is a participant-guided experience that actually brings the unstructured conversations people usually have between conference sessions into the conference itself. Unlike most conferences where a group of leaders determine what will be discussed, the participants make those decisions at an unconference, and usually either on the day of the unconference or shortly before. Unconferences usually aren't about big-name speakers, but are more about letting everyone attending take part in the conversation.

About this Unconference

The Unconference at ALA Annual is a full-day event which takes place Friday, July 10th from 9am - 5pm at the Hilton, Northwest 5 Room. Lunch will be served and admission is free. The Unconference is limited to 75 registered attendees. This Unconference is an effort to expand member participation and explore alternative and more unstructured conference formats within the structure of ALA.

Attendees will collaborate online prior to the Unconference to identify topics they're interested in presenting to the group or facilitating a discussion about. Everyone will be both teacher and learner, discussing the topics they're most interested in.

There will be two types of experiences at the Unconference:

Presentations that last 7 minutes with 5 minutes for questions/feedback. Presentations will either be about a project an attendee has done that they think other librarians would be interested in or an idea they have for a library-related project that they'd like feedback on from the audience. There will be 10 of these presentations throughout the day.

Group discussions that last 50 minutes. There will be 10 different discussion groups going on during each of three discussion periods and no more than 10 people can participate in any discussion. The goal of this is to allow everyone to contribute to the discussion.

Each individual attending the Unconference must either suggest a presentation they would like to give or a discussion topic they would be willing to facilitate. We will then take all of those proposed topics and have participants vote on them. This will take place approximately six weeks before the conference. Those seven presentation topics and thirty discussion topics that receive the most votes will be the ones offered during the Unconference.

There is no specific limitation on the topics that can be discussed at this conference as long as they're in some way related to librarianship. They can run the gamut from services to children to cataloging standards to issues in reference services to bleeding edge technologies and more.

We will be having a backchannel for comments, link sharing, live blogging, etc. We are using Cover It Live and you can access the backchannel from our ALA Connect page or Meredith's website. Cover It Live will also pick up any tweets from Twitter using the hashtag #unala2009.

Registration

Registration for this full-day event is free and will be taken on a first-come-first-served basis. Once the 75 slots are filled, we will open up a waiting list for additional people to register. When you register for this event, you must provide your name and an idea either for a talk you'd like to give or a topic you're willing to facilitate a discussion about. Your proposed topic should be articulated in a short single sentence.

If you are already registered and you are no longer able to attend, please email Michelle at mboule at gmail dot com and let her know. This will allow us to offer your place to the next person on the waiting list.

News and Updates

May 12 - Attention attendees! The schedule and topics for discussion will be decided upon by you. During the last week of May, a survey will be available to you which will decide what topics will be presented to the group and discussed in the round table groups. There will be some blank spaces left open for topics the day of the Unconference, but most will be decided before we arrive in Chicago. After Memorial Day, be on the lookout for the survey. Thanks for participating! - MB

June 4 - The survey for topics went out this evening. If you are registered to attend but did not get it, please let us know. The survey will close June 22nd at midnight. - MB

June 5 - As far as we know, we will have wireless in the Unconference room. This means, of course, back channels and online unconferencing. Woot.

June 24 - The schedule is up. If you need to switch times, please feel free to work that out amongst yourselves. Do not change someone else's time without asking.

-The hashtag for the Unconference is #unala2009

-We will be having a backchannel for comments, link sharing, live blogging, etc. We are using Cover It Live and you can access the backchannel from our ALA Connect page or Meredith's website. Cover It Live will also pick up any tweets from Twitter using the hashtag #unala2009.